1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video information outputting apparatus, a video information receiving apparatus, a video information outputting method and a video information transmitting method, for receiving and outputting digital video information. In particular, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for imposing restriction upon recording the outputted video information on a recording medium, or upon outputting it therefrom, upon basis of, in particular, an authority of the copyright owner thereof.
2. Description of Prior Art
In the technical filed of television broadcasting, apparatuses for recoding television programs and/or for reproducing thereof, and package media, such as movie software, etc., a so-called digital video broadcasting is started, and then corresponding thereto are put on the market a receiving apparatus, a display apparatus, and a digital recording/reproducing apparatus, etc., for home-use. Package software, which can be used in those apparatuses, will appear on the market in near future. Such the digital broadcasting or the digital recording apparatus has an advantage that it does not accompany deterioration in quality in the processes of transmission or recording/reproducing of the information. However, when high quality copies of the information are produced and appear on the market in a large number thereof under the condition where the copyright owner does not know it, and if such the copies are repeated, problems occur that the profit will not return to the copyright owner.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,454, for example, a method is disclosed, where a copy control information of two (2) bits is added to the information. With this, one among three categories, i.e., “Copy Never”, “Copy Free” and “Copy One Generation” is selected at the will of the copyright owner or the producer of information, thereby to control the operation of the recording apparatus. Thus, the recording apparatus stops or prohibits the recording operation if it is “Copy Never”, but does the recording operation if “Copy Free”. In case of the “Copy One Generation”, after converting the information into “No More Copies” information, then the recording apparatus conducts the recording operation thereof.